Storytelling in action

The Rāwhiti/Waengapū hub has been busy this term connecting with our Kuras by presenting our mahi. We held two hui where Josh Halkett demonstrated how to tell the Māori creation story from Te Waipounamu, the story of Papatūānuku and Ranginui.

As a challenge, Josh started by telling the story in full te Reo Māori and then asked the audience to discuss their understanding of any kupu (words) or phrases. He then carried on and told the story in English, carefully showing subtle actions and capturing the audience. Clara Mapley brought the story to life with her fantastic illustrations, the intricate details of her work had the audience amazed and excited to use these pictures, within their classes, as part of the accompanying activities.

Chrystie Woods presented some examples of Science activities that Kaiako could teach alongside the story. These resources will enable ākonga to explore and make connections with te Ao Māori.

The story comes with supporting activities for all curriculum areas and is a valuable teaching resource for teachers who want to increase their place-based curriculum and te reo Māori in the classroom.

At the start of each hui, Dallas Wichman welcomed everybody, and we came together for karakia, waiata and kai. To set the scene, there were some fantastic demonstrations of rocket launching and a hydrogen balloon explosion by David Litten (St Bedes) and Keith Sadler (Villa Maria College). We were honoured to have a whakamihi from Ratu Lolohea (St Teresa’s) and Chris Hubble (St Bedes).

Overall, Term tahi has been about connecting with the kaiako of our kura, as well as creating and presenting some awesome mahi. We are looking forward to seeing and hearing about the impact our mahi has had on both kaiako and ākonga, as well as, the pre and post test data.